New York, NY – State and city leaders are offering programs with financial and zoning incentives to encourage new grocery stores in the city or help upgrade existing ones.
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The incentives include allowing residential buildings to be larger if there is a neighborhood grocery store on the ground floor.
City leaders say grocery stores are vital to the health of the community.
“In our five boroughs, sadly, there are a lot of neighborhoods where people don’t have access to supermarkets,” said Council Speaker Christine Quinn. “If people don’t have access to supermarkets, they don’t have access to quality fruits and vegetables. You need that to deal with hunger, nutrition and obesity in our city.”
Governor David Paterson also signed off on the creation of a $10 million loan program to help fund new food markets in under-served communities.
If you look at the rules of the program, you will note that in order to get the tax abatement the retail grocery stores have promise to be open at least six days a week (Mon-Sat) with optional Sunday hours. This will make it difficult for any heimeshe grocery stores to participate since many mashgichim will not work on shabbos and will not certify a store that is mechalel shabbos.
Did they bother to figure out what the rent, light, all utilities would be before the food even was purchased???
Does anyone know how to contact the people involved with this program? id like to apply.
Just what we need more overpriced small grocers.
Grocery stores in the first floor of apartment house? Good grief, let’s take away more affordable housing and also think about the dirt and bugs in what may have been a clean building.